The introduction and deployment of a medical device such as a stent or stent graft into a patient is a well-known procedure. The introducer may include an external manipulation section or handle, an inner catheter that may accommodate a guide wire, a medical device carried by the inner catheter, a nose cone dilator at the proximal end of the inner catheter and a retractable outer sheath. The medical device is generally positioned at the proximal end of the introducer. During deployment, the implantable medical device is released from the introducer, first by retraction of the sheath and/or by the operation of other release mechanisms to facilitate expansion of the device in the body vessel.
Descending thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections are often treated by placing a stent graft in the affected region of the vessel. In some procedures, the affected region (i.e., the location of an aneurysm or dissection) necessitates creating a seal with the stent graft at the location of a branch vessel extending from the main vessel, such as the left subclavian artery for example. In such cases, a fenestrated and/or branched graft may be used to maintain patency of both the main vessel and the branch vessel.
Accordingly, it may be desirable and advantageous to provide a stent graft delivery device or introducer that is pre-loaded with a single guide wire which can facilitate both the delivery of the stent graft to the desired location within a vessel as well as cannulation of one or more branch vessels.